A SALUTE TO TOM SCHOOL

by David Mowdy

On a beautiful Saturday in early May last spring, more than 200 patrons, former patrons, families and friends celebrated 83 years of Tom Elementary School. It was a festive occasion brought on by a sad reality: their school was closing.

Judging from outward appearances, everyone enjoyed the eating, visiting, live entertainment and, probably some more eating. But, human nature being what it is, I know there were many heavy hearts.

Tom area residents love their children just as do those in the ritziest school districts one might name. Many live on the basic necessities, but they were privileged to send their children to a school in their own community, and they supported that school through thick and thin.

On a personal note, I always regarded Tom Elementary as a bright spot on the horizen. Many area residents, school personnel and students have become my friends over the years.

On a more personal note, the school has been a really important part of my family's life over the past six years. My wife Shirley retired in September of 2001 after teaching 19 years at Haworth. The next fall she became the special education director at Tom.

Superintendent Ferrell Lisenby explained that the school could not afford a full time person for the job, so Shirley agreed to a half-day per week arrangement that was designed to keep the school out of trouble with the government. It worked.

Then, daughter Jackie needed a job in 2004. She was hired as a teacher's aide, and in 2005 she became the 7th and 8th grade teacher, a job she held two terms. As it became more and more evident that the school would soon close, Jackie opted for job security in 2007 and took a high school English position at Idabel High School, her alma mater.

Thus, Tom Elementary was the site of the end of one Mowdy's career in education and the site where another Mowdy's career was launched. (All but two years of my 66 have been spent living with a school teacher, but that is another story.)

Any piece about Tom School would be incomplete without mention of Solon Patton and his family. Mr. Patton -- though I was never his student, that is the only way I could ever address this gentleman -- began teaching at Tom in the mid-1960s as co-principal with Marshall Storey. He later became principal and held that post until he retired in 1987.

"Mr. Patton was the most respected person I have ever met," Bob Severn said. Severn taught at Tom from 1976 to 1985. "He was small in stature but one of the most knowledgable and wisest persons I have ever known," Severn said. "Failure was unknown to him."

Mrs. Jewel (Cotton) Patton was equally well respected, and their children Myron and Kathy set some pretty high standards for others to follow.

It was inevitible, I suppose, that some day Tom Elementary School would be closed. As this writer dabbled in McCurtain County news over the last 40 years, rumors of the impending arrival of that dreaded day reached my ears from time to time. I always insisted that the little school would not close, knowing in the deep reaches of my mind that the possibility was real.

And, sadly, it happened. Enrollment in the K-8 school had declined drastically in recent years. With only about 30 students last term, the school faced closure one way or another. Citizens of the school district voted early this year to annex to Haworth Public Schools, and that move became official this summer.

So ended the 83-year history of the most southeasterly school in Oklahoma.

Tom School was founded in 1925 as several small schools in the area were consolidated. Patsy Stevens, resident historian and a member of the final Tom board of education, wrote in her "History of Tom School," that those small schools were New Salem, Pine Creek, Hall and, possibly, Treadway, with Clear Lake and Pecan Grove consolidating later.

Stevens reported that the first graduating class was in 1932. She noted that the school burned in the spring of 1939. It was rebuilt by the WPA. All of this was before electricity reached Tom in the 1940s and before indoor plumbing.

The high school consolidated with Haworth in 1962 but retained its K-8 status. As a small rural school, eight was considered a large graduating class, especially when the high school existed.

The second school burned on February 13, 1996. But, as an indication of how hardy and determined the community was and is, portable buildings were brought in and the school missed only one day.

Wonderfully modern metal structures (with indoor plumbing, of course) soon replaced the wood and were dedicated in 1997. Now, the buildings and property are up for sale. I sure hope they are put to use to benefit the entire Tom area.

Those buildings include a nice gymnasium for Tiger basketball, which brings up another important subject.

Basketball has long been a staple of the community, and we must note that the girls team won the first state championship of the ORES (Organization of Rural Elementary Schools) in 2004, and the boys quickly followed with their own state title in 2006. Mr. Patton would be proud.

And, we may as well conclude this story on those positive notes. News reporters usually signify the end of a piece by putting the number 30 at the bottom. On behalf of Tom School and all to whom it meant so much since 1925, here is their

30

David Mowdy has a masters degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. For 21 years he worked as a sports reporter/editor and as a news editor. He has served as a member and/or officer of numerous local, county and state boards during the past 40 years. He was Oklahoma Handicapped Citizen of the Year in 1975. Mowdy owns and operates Haworth Imprints and Amazing Grace Books & Gifts in Idabel. He and his wife Shirley live at Haworth. They have two daughters and sons-in-law and six grandchildren.